


Button Hotel

by ghostparkour



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Tags will be updated as we go along, hotel au?, i know where this all goes i just don't want to spoil /eye emoji/, it's what they deserve, not sure how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:47:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28507677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostparkour/pseuds/ghostparkour
Summary: Alison decides to spend the summer of 2019 at the hotel of a distant relative in hopes of making a big hit miniseries for her youtube channel, and ends up meeting a peculiar group of strangers.
Relationships: Alison (Ghosts TV 2019) & Everyone, Alison/Mike (Ghosts TV 2019)
Kudos: 16





	Button Hotel

**Author's Note:**

> Basically my take on what their lives would be like if they were born in the late 80s/early 90s, and what would happen should they ever meet! I started this months ago and finally got around to posting it, I'm super excited to share this little alternate universe with you all :) hope you enjoy! kudos, comments, fanart, declarations of undying love etc are always appreciated!

“But what if she still doesn’t like me?!” whined Alison, probably for the 50th time that day.

“Don’t- Wait, what do you mean “still”?” Mike asked, taking his eyes off the road for a second “She had no problem with you before.” Alison just raised her eyebrows at him. “What?”

“Oh come on Mike, we’ve met twice and she was giving me the cold shoulder the entire time both times.” She slumped back in her seat in despair, electing to ignore Mike’s confusion “What if this was all a bad idea?”

“It’ll be fine, Ali. Plus, even if  _ she _ doesn’t like you, the two of us can still have a nice time.

  
“Yeah, the two of us and Cam.”

“You know he hates being called that, right?”

“He’s never complained.”

“Not to you, he likes you” huffed Mike “He’d probably kill me if I ever tried that.”

“I don’t think he _ likes _ anyone.”

“At least him and Lady B will get along fine then.”

Alison snorted and slapped him on the shoulder just as they pulled up to the giant house.

“Bloody hell, this place is massive!”

“Yeah, it looked way smaller in the photos.”

“That’s what shh-” Alison shot him a look “-I thought. As well.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and hopped out of the car before he’d even finished parking. The house - house? - really was gigantic. It looked old, too, but in an elegant sort of way, and Alison got the strangest feeling of… belonging. She shook her head and turned her attention to Mike who managed to park the van and get some of their luggage out while she was busy staring in awe.

“Are you sure we should take everything in immediately?” asked Alison, stepping closer.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, it just feels… rude” she shrugged “”Hi, thanks for having us, here’s all our stuff you’ll have to put up with all summer” y’know?”

“Won’t showing up with no luggage make us look weird?”

“... Let’s just take a suitcase each.”

“Yeah.”

They lugged their suitcases across the gravel parking lot and towards the entrance. The big, wooden doors were left open and Alison immediately spotted the receptionist’s desk to the left.

“Hello!” Alison smiled, stepping up to the girl at the desk “I’m Alison, I’m supposed to be meeting Fanny…?”

“Oh my gosh” said the girl, looking like she hasn’t registered anything that’s been said “are you Alison Cooper?”

Alison sighed “Yes, that’s me.”

“Oh my gosh” the girl said again, and basically ran out from behind the desk “Lady Button said someone would be coming but I didn’t think it’d be  _ you _ \- sorry, I’m Kitty, I love your videos, I’ve seen literally all of them” she seemed to say all of this without ever pausing for breath.

“Uh, thank you, I’m very flattered” Alison said, trying her best to smile. Normally, she’d be happy to chat with an excited fan, but right now it was the exact thing she did NOT need considering how stressed she was. “Would you like a photo?”

Kitty’s eyes widened “Could I? Oh yes please, I’d love that!” She somehow produced a phone in a glittery pink phonecase from her dress and took a few pictures of them, making a different silly expression in each one.

“Leave the poor guests alone, Kitty” the voice, belonging to Fanny Button, seemed to come out of nowhere. Alison felt all her blood turn to ice. She shot Mike a scared look, who just shrugged as she straightened up to greet Fanny. “I hope she hasn’t been bothering you, Alison”

“No, no, it’s fine, I don’t mind” she did her best to smile as Fanny checked her over from head to toe with a scorn on her face. Alison had made sure to dress as appropriately as possible, even putting on a long sleeved jumper despite the warm weather to hide her tattoo, yet she still felt scrutinized.

“It’s nice to see you again!” Mike said, extending a hand. Fanny didn’t take it.

“Quite. Come on, I’ll show you your room” She turned on her heel and started walking towards the other end of the lobby. Alison quickly excused herself to Kitty and followed, Mike in tow.

Alison got to truly appreciate how big the place was in the time it took them to drag their suitcases up the long, creaking staircase. Apparently that was one of the things they decided not to renovate.

The stairs led to a corridor spanning in both directions. Fanny turned left and walked towards what would be the front of the mansion. Alison noted several doors on the right hand side, as well as another corridor opening from the one they were in which she assumed had the rooms above the lobby and the rest of the house. Assuming it was symmetric, it meant the place looked like a big H from a bird’s eye view. 

She was snapped out of her thoughts about how funny it would’ve been if the family was called Hutton by the loud jingle of the keys Fanny took out of her purse. 

“These two are for your room. I’m leaving you one each. The rest are for the B building, I labelled all of them so hopefully you won’t get confused. If you have any questions, feel free to ask one of the staff for help.” 

“Thank you, Fanny,” Alison said, taking the keys “for everything. I really don’t know how to repay you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You’re family now” Fanny said, her tone completely unreadable. “Enjoy your stay.”

With that, she was gone. Alison let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and heard Mike do the same.

“She really has a way with people, doesn’t she?” he asked, making them both snort as Alison unlocked the door.

The room was way bigger than she expected, with a giant bed, two desks, three chairs, a sofa and a very modern looking tv. She was just about to check out the en suite bathroom when her phone dinged.

“Cam says he’ll be here in 10 minutes!” she yelled, walking over to Mike who was admiring the view from the window.

“Great, he can help us carry everything in then”

Alison hugged him and groaned into his chest. “Hey, everything will be fine. We can do this, yeah?” he said, hugging her closer. She took a deep breath, doing her best to feel confident.

“Yeah. Yeah we can.”

* * *

"...and that's when I knew I  _ had _ to move to London. Of course, my family was against it, they said there was no way I'd ever run into Alison in such a big city, but I believe we're fated to be together. Hope is food for the soul. My uncle, who owns the hotel, generously offered to let me stay for free, but I'll only stay for a few days. Every minute I spend here is a minute I'm spending away from Alison. Anyway, what's your story? Why are you staying at the hotel?''

''To stargaze.'' Robin answered simply.

''To stargaze? That's it?''

''Great view here. Wouldn't wanna bore you with the details.''

That shut him up, but Robin could tell the man walking next to him was seriously offended, which wasn't his intention. He extended his hand and broke the awkward silence by saying, ''I'm Robin.''

The man paused. He shook Robin's hand, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Robin. I'm Thomas Thorne."

Robin slid his hands back into his pockets and broke eye contact. "So... Who's Alison?"

Thomas sighed, seemingly searching for a word to describe her, before clearing his throat. "She's my sun and my stars. The last thought I have each night before falling asleep, and the reason I get up in the morning. She's the love of my life! If people were flowers she'd be a rose garden...."

Robin had to squeeze his eyes shut to keep them from rolling. This man clearly had some unresolved issues with this Alison person. Robin thought she was probably an ex or something, which in his opinion was weird and, frankly a bit creepy, but he didn't want to say anything. It was none of his business, and from what he had said, Robin didn't think she was in much danger of being stalked by him. So he just said, ''Good luck.''

''Thanks, buddy. I'm going to need it!''

Thomas talked about himself for the rest of their walk to the hotel, chipper and optimistic in a way Robin hasn't seen since he was 6.

After they walked through the doors Thomas said, "Well, this is where I leave you, I guess. I have to go see my aunt. See you at dinner?"

"Yeah. See you at dinner." Robin smiled to himself as he walked towards the reception desk.

* * *

Robin did see Thomas at dinner. He saw him crouched behind a big plant, looking absolutely mortified. He didn't notice Robin at first, too busy staring at the other side of the room. ''You all right, mate?''

His question startled Thomas. He grabbed Robin by the sleeve and pulled him down behind the plant, shushing him. ''You see that woman? That's Alison,'' he whispered, pointing at the table he had been watching.

''Stop stalking her and go talk to her, then!'' said Robin, not bothering to whisper or hide his amusement.

''No! Are you mad? She doesn't even know I exist!''

''Yeah? Then why is she looking at you now?''

'' _ WHAT?' _ ' Thomas's eyes widened and he crouched down lower behind the plant. ''What's she doing now?''

''Talking to her friends.''

Thomas heaved a sigh of relief. ''Fuck. Now?''

''She's getting up.'' Thomas nodded. ''She's walking towards us,'' Robin added, getting up on his feet.

Alison was standing right in front of him. He noticed that she was about the same height as him, and very pretty.

''Um, hi,'' she said, sounding appropriately awkward. The sound prompted Thomas to jump and lean against the wall as if he had been just chilling there. ''I was wondering if you and your friend would like to come sit with us.''

Robin waited for Thomas to answer, but he looked like he was trying to swallow down fish bone, so Robin just nodded. Alison turned on her heel and walked back to her table, Robin and Thomas trailing behind her.

Only two people other than Alison were sitting at the large table before the duo joined them. Alison introduced them as Mike (who waved when she said his name) and ''The Captain'' (who only stared at them and cleared his throat.) No one said anything. Mike poked the meat on his plate with his fork.

''So. What do you guys do for a living?'' Alison asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

''Nothing. Rich parents,'' Robin explained. He elbowed Thomas's arm. ''And Thomas sells anime fetish art.''

''I do  _ not _ !'' Thomas exclaimed, his face beet red. He leaned back in his chair in embarrassment when he realized he'd have to actually answer the question now. ''I'm a poet.''

Alison seemed impressed by that. ''A poet! That's nice. Have you ever been published?''

''Well, no.''

Alison raised her eyebrows, expecting him to continue that sentence with a  _ but _ that never came, so Robin asked, ''What about you, Alison?''

''Me? I'm a YouTuber. I thought that was why you were watching me behind that plant?''

Thomas squeezed Robin's arm. ''Yes, of course, we know that! I'm a huge fan, Alison, I've seen all your videos, and such wonderful videos they are!''

Every new piece of information he learned about Thomas made Robin regret his choice not to book a room at one of those big chain hotels where no one had to talk to each other more and more.

''Wow, thank you. I couldn't do any of that without my crew,'' Alison said, gesturing towards Mike and the Captain, who affectionately rolled their eyes at the word.

Robin decided he couldn't hold his reaction in any longer. ''Thomas. Let's get some food.''

''Yeah, let's,'' Thomas sighed, and got up without breaking eye contact with Alison.

Once they reached the buffet, Robin burst into laughter.

''What? What's so funny?''

He tried to speak but he was laughing too hard. He put one finger up to let him know he'd stop in a moment. Thomas furrowed his brows. ''Are you mocking me?''

''Mate, you're moving to London to woo  _ a YouTuber _ ?''

''What are you laughing at? Have you never heard of love at first sight?''

''What, are you offended? Come on.'' Robin put his hand on Thomas's shoulder. ''I was just joking,'' he said, or at least tried to, but it ended up sounding more like a giggle. Thomas hurried ahead of him and got back to the table alone, but he turned around and stuck his tongue out at Robin to let him know they were still friends.

Robin shook his head and looked at the very limited options sitting on the buffet, eventually deciding on a bowl of tomato soup. When he turned around to return to the table, he saw that three new faces had joined them: two women in staff uniforms and a short man with funny glasses. He put the metal tray down on the table with a loud thud, causing everyone to stop talking and look at him.

"Robin!" Alison exclaimed, excited about the idea of passing over her end of the conversation onto him, "Have you met Pat, Kitty, and Mary?"

Pat and Mary greeted him at the same time, though at very different volumes, while Kitty held out her hand like she was expecting him to kiss it, which earned her a fist bump from Robin. Kitty shrugged, smiling. "I checked him in."

"You two work at the hotel too?"

Pat nodded. "I work with the children! You know, activities, daycare, that sort of thing." Robin hadn't actually seen any kids since he arrived, but he didn't point that out.

"I work in the kitchen. Bone a-pay-tee," Mary pointed at Robin's soup, which was actually pretty good. He had just opened his mouth to tell her that when he was interrupted by a loud "Hey!"

The owner of the voice, an irritated looking man in a tailored suit, was standing at the door. "Why isn't there anyone running the reception desk? What does a man have to do to get a room around here?"

* * *

The Captain didn’t like Julian.

He’d decided that as soon as the man poked his head through the door to yell for a receptionist, and his opinion didn’t change in the ten minutes since Julian decided to invite himself to their table and start talking to anyone who would listen - which was most of them, out of politeness, save for Thomas and Kitty, who were excitedly talking about Alison, and Robin, who was busy scrolling through his phone and occasionally laughing loudly at something and showing it to Thomas.

The Captain just about managed to tune out Julian prattling on about how much his watch was worth when he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Robin’s voice cutting Julian off.

“You reckon there’s any booze in this place?” he asked, seemingly addressing Mary. 

“Th-there’s a bar in the back, yeah,” Mary said after a few seconds, “I can get something for you if you’d like.”

“We’ll help,” Robin said, elbowing Thomas “Come on.”

As Thomas scrambled to get up, Julian opened his mouth again. “Do you-”

“You talk too much,” Robin interrupted, then turned on his heel to follow Mary, Thomas shuffling after them. Julian looked like he was too shocked to even be offended.

“Alison, are you sure that’s wise?” Cap asked, breaking the tense silence. “We do have work tomorrow.”

“Come on Cam, don’t be such a buzzkill,” Alison groaned, “We can just start the day after. We’ll be here all summer anyway.”

“You’re here all summer?” Julian gaped, “Doesn’t that cost a fortune?”

“Uh, no, we’re not paying, the owner is letting us stay for free since-”

Kitty suddenly piped up. “Oh my gosh, are you here to film a video?” 

“Yeah! It’s another paranormal investigation type thing, though this one will have multiple episodes.” 

“Do you make money with that? Uploading videos to YouTube?” Cap could practically see the cartoon money signs in Julian’s eyes.

“Well yes, you can monetise videos, plus we have a patreon with a lot of patrons- um, kinda like paid subscribers?”

“Wowee maybe I should start one too,” Julian said, just as the others arrived back with an impressive amount of alcohol.

“You realise you have to be likable to be successful on the internet?” Robin asked, popping a beer can open.

Julian looked like he was considering his words very carefully, which wasn’t something the Captain thought he was capable of. “...You know, you’re very mean for someone who looks like he has rabies.”   
  


“Oh, did daddy forget to buy you a sense of humour?” 

“That’s v-”

“Guys, please!” Pat cut them off before they could escalate it further. Robin grinned and busied himself with what seemed like trying to drink the whole can of beer in one go. “How about an icebreaker? I know some games we could-”

Thomas scoffed “Look mate, I know you’re bored without any kids to entertain, but don’t you think we’re a bit too old for that?”

“Well, I think it’s a lovely idea, Pat” Kitty said kindly.

“Thank you Kitty,” Pat smiled nervously. “I don’t mean something like duck duck goose, Tom, I was thinking more like… Hm, how do you guys feel about ‘never have I ever’?”

“A drinking game? Oh, Lady B would flip her lid if she were to find out…” Mary said, looking alarmed.

“That’s the fun of it,” Julian grinned, leaning back in his chair, “all right, I’m in.”

“Wonderful! Anyone else?” Everyone murmured in agreement until Cap realised they were all waiting for him to respond.

“Nnno thank you Patrick, I’ll pass. In fact,” he checked his watch. Twenty to ten. “I should be heading up.”

“Really? At least stay for the first round, it’s not even ten yet,” said Alison.

Cap sighed and lowered his voice to address her, though he was sure everyone else could still hear him. “Look, if you want to spend your first night here getting drunk and embarrassing yourself, I can’t stop you, but you also can’t expect me to participate.” He ignored Alison’s annoyed groan as he stood up, bid good night to everyone, and went to head upstairs. 

He didn't get more than a few steps outside the dining room. 

"Does this go deeper, or are you just naturally a wet blanket?" The voice belonged to Julian, who evidently followed him out, and was now leaning against the wall of the passage. 

"Deeper?" the Captain frowned. 

"As in, you're allergic, you're muslim, you're a recovering alcoholic, your whole family died in an alcohol drinking accident and this is majorly offensive right now..." Cap decided not to mention that this was probably offensive no matter what. "Oh man, they didn't, did they?" 

"What- no! I just think it's... unprofessional. We're here to work, and we've barely settled in, they shouldn't be indulging like this." 

"So you're gonna go to bed at 10pm?" 

"Yes, like I do every night." 

"Alone?" 

Cap rolled his eyes. "Good night, Julian." 

"Suit yourself," he shrugged, "if you need us, we'll probably be in the dining room.  _ Indulging. _ " he mock-whispered the last word, making a vertical sweeping motion with both hands like he was revealing a secret, then walked the few steps to the door backwards before disappearing from sight, leaving the Captain alone.


End file.
